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mummer

[muhm-er]
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noun
  1. a person who wears a mask or fantastic costume while merrymaking or taking part in a pantomime, especially at Christmas and other festive seasons.
  2. an actor, especially a pantomimist.
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Origin of mummer

First recorded in 1400–50, mummer is from the late Middle English word mommer. See mum2, -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for mummer

mime, fool, jester, buffoon, comedian, comic, prankster, thespian, impersonator, copycat, parrot, actor, player, imitator, performer, parodist, mummer, trouper, caricaturist, impressionist

Examples from the Web for mummer

Historical Examples of mummer

  • He had at hand a surer ladder to fame than the mummer's art.

    The Man Shakespeare

    Frank Harris

  • They ought at least, to give us a moorish dance, or some other mummer!

  • But the mummer had gone so far as to assume the type of the Red Death.

  • A steamer was bearing my lady-love into the presence of her mummer.

    The Confession of a Fool

    August Strindberg

  • He was so much bigger than Mummer that it was hard to believe that they were own cousins.

British Dictionary definitions for mummer

mummer

noun
  1. one of a group of masked performers in folk play or mime
  2. a mime artist
  3. jocular, or derogatory an actor
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Word Origin for mummer

C15: from Old French momeur, from momer to mime; related to momon mask
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mummer

n.

"one who performs in a mumming, actor in a dumb show," early 15c., probably a fusion of Middle French momeur "mummer" (from Old French momer "mask oneself," from momon "mask") and Middle English mommen "to mutter, be silent," related to mum (interjection).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper